PMHS Parent Council; talk to P7 parents, Russell Overend June 2017
I’d like to talk to you about the Parent Council. I joined the Parent Council when my son started in S1 and I have got a lot out of attending the Parent Council meetings. I’d like to try and persuade some of you to come along to future Parent Council Meetings or at least sign up to receive the e mails and minutes.
So what’s it all about? Many of you will be aware of PTA’s or Parent Partnerships in the primary schools. In my experience the Parent Council quite different to the primary school. It’s not all organising school discos and fundraising. Nor is it like a school board where it is policy, recruitment and financial planning.
As one of the best High Schools in Renfrewshire (if not the best) there is a lot going on in the school and a lot that your kids can participate in.
Subjects, subject choices, Duke of Edinburgh, sports teams and competitions, musical instruments, school concerts, dancing, work experience, school trips, activities weeks, workplace visits, charities,
Your teenagers probably won’t tell you about all these activities so the Parent Council is a good way to find out what was going on in the school. I attended the parent council initially just for information but found it useful for many other things. I would recommend it to you if you are new to the school and want to find out a lot more about the school.
The formal objectives of the parent council is to:
- Create an inclusive welcoming school
- Aid the communications between the school and parents.
- To consult on matters effecting the education and welfare of pupils
- To fundraise for additional activities and equipment for the pupils.
In practice the Parent Council has only 7 meeting a year – each lasting about 90 minutes.
We always have a talk by the Head Boy and Head Girl (from S6) – events, ideas for improvement, their work with charities, buddy system with the first years…
We always have a head teachers report – Mr Dewar will go over what has happened over the last month and what is happening over the next month. Mr Dewar will also cover any proposed changes, consult on policy coming from Renfrewshire Council, review educational performance, updates on staffing. Review new ideas – electronic homework diary, discuss new work experience ideas.
We often invite some guest speakers – careers and guidance staff, year heads etc.
We do a bit of fundraising and provide some additional resources for the school. This year we purchased a new laser cutter for the technology department with the aim of making the school the most technological advanced schools in Renfrewshire. We also sponsored some new junior awards for STEM subjects and the Arts. We have previously funded a new school mini bus and some recording equipment for music.
There is an opportunity to raise any concerns or suggest improvements.
So if you are interested please get in touch or check out the Parent Council section on the School Website.
Russell Overend